Book of V. (Solomon) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for THE BOO OF V. … then take off on your own:

1. Talk about the way that author Anna Solomon connects the Esther story in the Bible with Vee's story in this novel. In fact, how does the specter of Vashti haunt the entire novel? Maybe a better question to ask would be: what do all three women have in common?

2. When Vee refuses her husband's request did you find the plotline, at that point, improbable? If so, did it make a difference to you in your enjoyment of the overall novel? Why or why not?

3. How is Lily caught between two competing mores, her mother's and her neighbors'? Does the conundrum she finds herself in resonate in any way with you?

4. Lily has this overwhelming (or perhaps underlying?) sense that she "has not become the type of woman she was supposed to become." Talk about what she means.

5. (Follow-up to Question 4) Have you ever felt, like Lily, that you have not lived up to expectations? If so, whose expectations? Yours? Others'? If others', whose?

6. How does Solomon use Lily and her husband to portray domestic life? How would you describe their marriage?

7. What does Lily discover about her mother after Ruth dies? Were you as surprised as Lily? Does the revelation change your perception of Ruth?

8. How does Vashti in Anna Solomon's retelling of Esther's story become the savior? "It's not her story they want, of course," Vashti muses. "She is only the queen who is banished so their part could begin." What does she mean?

m. Anna Solomon is keenly interested in the stories told about women: those told about women and those women tell themselves. Can you think of other stories or myths that could be reworked to achieve a different outcome of powerlessness vs. power for women?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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